


Joan could get used to this

by fuc_kif_i_know



Category: Clone High
Genre: Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Getting Together, Out of Character, Yearning, anti abe fic, both of them deserved better, boys R silly, figuring out feelings, might be, soft, they don't get frozen, they're gay, wlw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:55:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27147659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuc_kif_i_know/pseuds/fuc_kif_i_know
Summary: After an awful prom night the girl's are walking back and something happens in Joan's head which causes her to see Cleo in a new light, they just want some validation and end up spilling their guts to each other.
Relationships: Cleopatra & Abraham Lincoln (Clone High), Cleopatra/Joan of Arc (Clone High), JFK & Joan of Arc (Clone High)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 84





	Joan could get used to this

**Author's Note:**

> might be a bit ooc, apologies for that. also some canon divergence, no one gets frozen, but they do all end up in the meat locker. they just leave afterwards though. the girls deserved better.

Joan had expected the walk back to Cleo’s house to be awkward or at least a little bit violent, but so far neither of them had said anything. In fact, the only sense Joan had to indicate that Cleo was still there was the cold winter breaths and steady clack of her heels on the sidewalk. Joan fought the temptation to look at the other girl but instead kept her gaze ahead letting her mind wonder.

God this evening had been a train wreck, Joan could have never predicted she would end up in a bed with JFK whilst all her classmates stood around the room and watched, even less predictable was Abe confessing to her. She had spent years fantasising about how Abe would finally tell her how he felt. And yet, when it actually happened she felt, nothing. Instead a wave of guilt came over her and a tight knot of nervousness and dread clenched in her stomach. Why wasn’t she allowed to feel nice feelings? Even loosing her virginity felt eh, sure Jack had been great and surprisingly respectful the whole time but it just felt, wrong. He’d even given her his jacket after everyone had been called out the room and apologised that everyone had to see. Joan sighed to herself and tugged the jacket tighter around herself. Maybe she was overthinking, yeah, she would wake up tomorrow and everything would make sense. 

A sharp intake of breath next to her brought Joan out of her thoughts, Shit. Cleo. Despite how caught up in the moment she was as everything took place (and how the girl seemingly never showed any emotion unless it was to manipulate someone) Joan would have had to be as blind as Toot’s to not see the way Cleo’s face fell when she saw her ex boyfriend in bed with another girl. And not only that but how genuinely sad she looked when Abe admitted to being in love with that very same girl. Which just so happened to be her. Joan cringed, you’d be heartless not to feel bad for her. 

When there was a pause in the girl’s steady breathing and it seemed as though Cleo was about to speak Joan turned to look at her, ready to apologise for what had happened. Instead she came face to face with her and for that brief second that they held each other’s gaze Joan noted that Cleo looked ethereal, her makeup was a bit smudged and she had highlighter on her nose that was being reflected by the dim lighting from the lamp posts. She was gorgeous and for a second Joan was sure her heart stopped completely, oh no. She quickly recovered and glanced up at the stars. When she finally sneaked a look at Cleo the she was looking at her shoes and Joan noticed she was shivering, in turn she looked down at herself in her long sleeved top and trousers. She quickly shrugged off the jacket JFK had given to her and offered it to Cleo. 

“i’ve been wearing this for a while now, besides we’re not too far from yours. You can wear it for the rest of the walk home”

Cleo looked down at Joan, her face was kind. None of the usual glaring that she was used to and it caught her off guard, she took the jacket and slipped it on. Flustered, she said thank you and the girls carried on walking.

Cleo wasn’t quite sure what to think, Joan had just offered her a jacket. Sure it wasn’t hers but she had been the one to give it to her, it was the first nice action someone had made towards her that night. Actually the first nice action someone had made in a while, at least one where something wasn’t expected back. It felt nice, her chest felt warm ‘is this what it feels to be treated with respect?’ But as soon as the warmness came a realisation fell over her. Why had she always seen Joan as some threat? She had always second guessed her actions and been rude to her, sure Joan hadn’t been the nicest back but, what might have happened if boys had never been involved? Surely if Joan actually hated Cleo and only did what happened tonight to spite her she wouldn’t have waited for her after prom or walked back when she could have easily got a lift from someone, or given her the jacket. 

Suddenly Joan stopped and Cleo looked at her expectantly when she realised they had arrived back home. Right. 

The girls took turns to shower and change into sleep ware, before getting into their separate beds. It was silent for a while, there was a lot to process and neither knew quite what would happen tomorrow. After almost an hour of nothingness and it was sure that the rest of the house were asleep, Cleo’s voice cautiously came from the bottom bunk.

“Joan, you still awake?” 

She waited a beat to answer trying to decide whether to pretend to be asleep or if she should see what Cleo wanted. Before she could decide on an answer the voice came again.

“i wanted to apologise for how I’ve treated you in the past”

It was practically unheard of for Cleo to apologise for anything, Joan was not going to pass up this opportunity to properly talk to her. She got up from her top bunk and settled down on the edge of Cleo’s bed. Who, in turn, also sat up and turned on her bedside table light. They sat in awkward silence for a while before Joan remembered it was her turn to speak, she laughed a little sheepishly before speaking.

“You don’t have to apologise” 

With that Cleo gave a confused head tilt and Joan quickly spoke again

“i mean, thank you. You have been rude to me in the past-“ Cleo turned her head away for a second with, what Joan thought, was. Guilt? Regret? Jesus, today had been so weird. “you have been rude to me, but I’ve been rude back. I found out Abe had a crush on you and, well you know”

“i can’t blame you, I did the exact same. I thought you were a threat. I can’t believe we became enemies over Abe, we made a pretty good team in the pie fight, we could have been awesome” 

Joan felt her face go red and warm up at the way Cleo called said “we” she was right though, they could have been awesome. Instead of letting there be another awkward silence Joan spoke up again, keeping what Cleo said about “we” in the back of her head.

“over Abe of all people, he is so not worth it. By the way I’m really sorry about what happened between you two, just know that when I make it clear to him I don’t like him, he is totally going to try and win you back. Your choice on what to do then”

Cleo hummed in agreement before her eyes suddenly went wide in shock.

“you don’t like Abe? After everything, you don’t like him?”

“i don’t really know when I figured it out but no, I guess growing up with him made me think that I should be in love with him because that’s what is expected right? Boy and girl meet, they fall in love, get married, have kids. And I did think I liked him, I really did but. When he said he loved me in the meat locker I felt nothing, only this pit of dread, I don’t want to be with him. In fact I …”

Joan trailed off suddenly aware of how much she was opening up to Cleo and stopped herself incase she was falling on deaf ears but Cleo seemed to understand, they sat in a comfortable silence basking in each other’s presence. It felt nice to not argue, they hadn’t had any time like this before and Joan felt as though she could get used to spending time with Cleo properly rather than just being forced to share a bedroom with her. 

“remember when I kept coming onto you when you dressed up as John Dark”

That was out of no where, but Joan nodded along, she did remember that. It was certainly odd and Joan didn’t know how to react at the time, all she needed to do was put on a moustache and two of the most popular people in school where fawning over her. She did have to admit though. Even then, the feeling of getting attention from Cleo was, nice. She had just wished that Cleo had tried to not appeal to her like she did with the other boys, she didn’t care for the cream trick.

“have you ever thought about not being in a relationship with a man?” 

That was also fairly out of no where an Joan replayed the question in her head, trying to figure out what she meant and a part of her got nervous at the question. Does she mean like?

“in what way do you mean?”

“like, I don’t know if I want to date men anymore. Or at least not for a while, maybe when they’re older and more mature. They just seem to only want to show me off or have sex, and I know what you’re thinking. I often do that shit and play into it but, I just want someone to, you know. Be nice, to me”

Oh, that’s what she meant. Joan didn’t quite know what to say to that, if she had learnt anything from the past several hours it was that she had built up an idealistic idea of what was expected from relationships and when it actually came to it they where nothing like that. Maybe she just hadn’t met the right person,, or maybe it was something else. Joan wasn’t quite sure on what she was feeling but one thing was for sure, something had shifted in the way she viewed Cleo, she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Or maybe she was just too scared to admit it to herself. 

“Joan, you’re…” the red haired girl suddenly looked up at Cleo, her heart threatening to go at a speed dangerous to human’s “nice to me”

Joan didn’t know what to do, her brain short circuited and she was left wondering what to do next. Had she joined the dots correctly or was she tired and overthinking? She was left watching Cleo closely and once again the girls found themselves taking in each other’s features, this time they weren’t outside though and seemingly had all the time in the world. Cleo scooted closer to Joan and put her hand on the other girl’s face, they where really close now. But not close enough. Joan felt as though she could stay there on Cleo’s bed as the rest of the household slept forever, just her and Cleo with the light making Cleo’s skin more gold than ever and a shadow of a smile on her face. 

Cleo’s soft hands on Joan’s face seemed to tighten the grip ever so slightly and her face communicated a look of concentration, she breathed the words “fuck it” and leaned into Joan’s space, successfully closing the intimate gap. It was a delicate but swift kiss and by the time Joan realised what was happening it was over. Holy, shit. Cleo still had that look of concentration and was studying Joan, trying to pick up on any discomfort or evidence that she didn’t want it. Joan decided to give her an answer. She put her own hands on either side of Cleo’s face and this time she closed the gap.

Joan hadn’t ever kissed anyone before but that didn’t matter, she had decided kissing girls was much better than kissing boys. Her hands tangled in Cleo’s silky hair and she brushed it behind her ear, The taste of the other girls lip balm in her mouth. And god, she could just sink into her warm embrace, despite feeling so euphoric Cleo’s soft palm kept her grounded. She smiled against the kiss and both girls laughed a little, they slightly moved away but kept their foreheads touching. Cleo moved her hand from Joan’s face and onto her shoulder. 

All of the anxieties from prom night and the worry of what was to come the next school day vanished, all that mattered was right now. And again, Joan thought she could get used to this.

**Author's Note:**

> if you have any criticism then feel free to leave a comment, i hope you liked it x


End file.
